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Thursday, August 4, 2016

And Gently Flows The Yarra...

And here I am by the Yarra River, the river that has been so intricately linked with the city of Melbourne and Australia...

Crossing the Yarra over the Princes Bridge. This was the first permanent crossing over the river - it was first built in 1844, and reconstructed in 1888...

The area surrounding the Yarra River and modern day Melbourne was originally inhabited by Aboriginal natives - the Wurundjeri people for the last 30000 years. The Aboriginals considered the river to be an important resource, in line with their beliefs of sanctity of Nature.

In 1803, the first Europeans sailed up the river - that was a surveying party led by Charles Grimes, Acting Surveyor General of New South Wales, sailed upstream to Dights Falls where they could no longer continue due to the nature of the terrain. Later in 1835, the area that is now central and northern Melbourne was explored by John Batman, who negotiated a land transaction for 600,000 acres from eight Wurundjeri tribal elders. He selected a site on the northern bank of the Yarra River, declaring that "this will be the place for a village".

From then on, the river was instrumental in the establishment of Melbourne, as we know it today, along its banks from 1835 onwards.

And then gold was first discovered in Victoria near the Yarra River in Warrandyte in 1851. The find marked the start of the Victorian gold rush. The river was drained and diverted in various areas throughout the gold rush to aid gold miners. The Gold Rush led to the development of Melbourne and its surrounding areas.

It is a wonderful afternoon here today...

Buildings across Federation Square...

Kayaking on the Yarra...

The coat of arms belong to the municipal councils that contributed towards the cost of construction of the Princes Bridge...